|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Downloadable
Word Document version available here)
CONTACT: Ronnie Cummins 218-226-4164
Monday, June 16, 2003
Adam Eidinger 202-744-2671
NOSB Member in Collusion with Floral Water Manufacturer
to Institute Tap Water as 'Organic' in Cosmetics
May Also Be Influencing California SOP Investigation
LITTLE MARAIS, MN, June 16 -The Organic Consumers Association
(OCA) has learned that a member of the National Organic
Standards Board (NOSB), Kim Burton, has a financial conflict
of interest related to her role in establishing organic
standards for cosmetics. The conflict stems from NOSB's
eventual recommendations to the US Department of Agriculture
on organic standards for cosmetics.
The OCA believes Ms. Burton's role as a consultant to Bayliss
Ranch, a California manufacturer of floral waters (hydrosols),
demonstrates that she has a clear financial incentive to
institute the practice of counting tap water from steam
as 'organic' in floral waters. Under the National Organic
Program (NOP), non-plant water cannot count as 'organic.'
Without clearly stating her financial relationship to Bayliss
Ranch at the Organic Trade Association (OTA) Personal Care
Task Force (PCTF) meeting in Anaheim, California in March
of 2003, Ms. Burton represented the position that added
water from steam in floral waters is accurately counted
as "organic" in shampoos, conditioners and other body care
products.
This is in spite of the fact that the main active ingredients
in these cosmetics are cleansing and foaming agents in part
or wholly derived from petroleum. The NOSB is the public
body charged with safe-guarding organic standards and integrity.
Since counting water from steam as 'organic' in floral waters
is a transparently absurd and contentious issue, the OCA
argues that an NOSB board member has no business taking
money from one of the interested companies.
Furthermore, since the OTA PCTF will recommend organic
body care standards to the NOSB for NOSB's review and consideration,
Ms. Burton's relationship with Bayliss Ranch is particularly
problematic. "Manufacturers of floral waters, such as Bayliss
Ranch, stand to financially benefit from watered down 'organic'
standards that will dramatically increase demand for these
filler ingredients," said Ronnie Cummins, Executive Director
of the Organic Consumers Association. "The clear financial
gain Bayliss Ranch will derive from Ms. Burton's support
for counting water from steam in floral waters as organic
should result in Ms. Burton being prohibited from voting
on NOSB's recommended organic cosmetic standards." Ms. Burton
subsequently pointed out that she had stated in part at
the March and May OTA PCTF meetings that she was an "individual"
who is "working with" Bayliss Ranch on regulatory issues
regarding floral waters.
However, this veiled reference did not indicate a formal
financial consulting relationship which would be clearly
inappropriate for an NOSB board member. The OCA did not
discover the depth of Ms. Burton's relationship with Bayliss
Ranch until she forwarded a June 2 letter addressed to the
Soil Association, to the OTA PCTF. In this letter she discloses
that she is a paid consultant to Bayliss Ranch.
This conflict of interest is the primary issue and problem,
versus whether, when or how Ms. Burton disclosed her relationship
to Bayliss Ranch. Procedures outlined on the NOSB's website
(http://www.ams.usda.gov/nosb/conflictofinterest.html)
state (emphasis added): "That members of the Board shall
refrain promoting for consideration any material, process
or practice for which the member is or would derive direct
financial gain arising out of such Board action.
The act of promoting such material, process or practice
shall include private discussion with members of the Board
advocating the value of the material, public discussion,
and/or written advocacy. --more-- "A 'direct financial gain'
is defined as monetary consideration, contractual benefit
or the expectation of future monetary gain to a Board member
including but not limited to financial gain from a party
who manufacturers, distributes or holds exclusive title
to a formula for a material or product, process or practice."
At the May 2003 Austin Texas meeting of the OTA PCTF, Ms.
Burton stated that the FDA considers water from steam in
floral waters to be a processing aid because this water
does not have to be separately disclosed on the label.
Upon further review, OCA has found that while the "water"
in "flower water" is indeed legally sufficient to disclose
the water from the steam, the FDA definition of an "incidental
ingredient," which includes "processing aids," is defined
first and foremost to be "present in a cosmetic at insignificant
levels." 21 CFR 701.3(l)(1) and (2) The water from steam
in floral waters cannot in any shape or form be construed
as insignificant, and cannot be counted as "organic" when
added to a shampoo. Ms. Burton also stated that the Soil
Association, the U.K. organic certifier, counts the full
weight of floral waters as "organic" in another product
like a shampoo.
However, Maarten van Perlo, a certification officer who
specializes in health and beauty for the Soil Association,
stated: "Hydrosols and floral waters are considered water
under the Soil Association health and beautycare standards.
They are therefore excluded from the calculations when establishing
the percentage of organic ingredients in a health and beautycare
product." Ms. Burton and/or Other Floral Water Consultants
May Be Influencing California SOP Investigation The California
State Organic Program (SOP) and the California Department
of Health Services have launched an official investigation
into misleading 'organic' claims on over 30 body care products
manufactured by Avalon Natural Products.
The investigation is in response to a formal complaint
filed with the SOP on May 5 by the OCA which highlights
Avalon's false organic claims which are based on their use
of Bayliss Ranch floral water. Unfortunately, the OCA has
learned that Ms. Burton is not only a board member of the
NOSB, but is also a board member and 'alternate processing
representative' on the California Organic Food Advisory
Board (COFAB), which directly advises the California SOP.
In addition, there are other members of COFAB with financial
links to Avalon and Bayliss Ranch. Cummins stated: "We are
worried that misleading interpretations of Soil Association
and government regulations may confuse and corrupt the SOP
investigation into flagrant violations of the letter and
spirit of the organic regulations." The added water in floral
waters is substantial, unregulated, and may well constitute
the majority of the floral water by weight.
Body care companies that purchase such floral waters for
addition to their synthetic body care products, do so in
order to deceptively increase the organic ingredient percentage.
In actuality, they are simply diluting the product with
water. "Floral waters may contain some amount of organic
plant water that can be counted under existing National
Organic Program food standards as organic when added to
another product, but only if that content can be determined.
If this is too impractical, then floral waters should not
count at all, as with the Soil Association," said Cummins.
"Consumers deserve answers about the percentage of floral
water that amounts to ordinary tap water. This water should
not be counted when added to another body care product to
make deceptive '70% organic' claims." The California Organic
Standards Act of 2003 stipulates a mandatory 70 percent
minimum weight of non-water/non-salt agricultural organic
content in a product for a "Made with Organic" label claim
to be made on the front panel, and expressly forbids synthetic
ingredients not allowed under the federal NOP. The OCA has
demanded that organic body care standards should mirror
the standards for organic food products.
This means that: " Certified organic agricultural feed-stocks
are utilized exclusively, versus petroleum or conventional
vegetable feed-stocks, in the manufacture of the key basic
cleansing and conditioning ingredients. " Manufacture of
such ingredients is ecological. "
The toxicity of each ingredient is minimal. " Non-agricultural
water is not counted in any shape or form as contributing
to organic content.
The OCA is a nationwide non-profit organization of 500,000
organic consumers, deals with issues including organic standards,
public health, food safety, sustainable agriculture, and
Fair Trade.
ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION
6101 CLIFF ESTATE ROAD
LITTLE MARAIS, MN 55614 USA
Telephone: 218-226-4164 · Fax: 218-353-7652·
email: info@organicconsumers.org
http:// www.organicconsumers.org
|
